It's not clear from this YouTube clip what provoked Berkeley, California cops to begin poking…
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To be clear, it's a video taken from today's demonstration in Tahrir Square. The strangest scene comes at :58, when a cop who's beating a protester lying on the ground hands his baton over to some guy dressed in black, who gets his own whack in before returning the baton. How thoughtful of that police officer! Maybe he has some pepper spray he can lend to a passerby who wants to play "University of California Cop" for a while.

According to the BBC, the death toll from this weekend's pro-democracy protests has climbed to nine, while AFP says 11. Nearly 1,000 people have been injured during the crackdown, which has involved the use of tear gas (how Oaklandy) and rubber bullets (just like in Oakland and Denver!). In addition to attacking the protesters, police have also burned down their tents.